Unbeaten Arizona Captures Tip-Off Title

Duke's Jabari Parker (1) shoots against Arizona's Brandon Ashley (21) and Kaleb Tarczewski (35) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the NIT Season Tip-off tournament Friday, Nov. 29, 2013, in New York. Arizona won 72-66. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

New York — Nick Johnson scored all but two of his 15 points in the second half and No. 4 Arizona beat No. 6 Duke 72-66 on Friday night in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

The game was expected to be a matchup of two of the best freshmen in the country and, although Aaron Gordon of Arizona and Jabari Parker of Duke didn’t spend a lot of time covering each other, they were both key factors in the outcome.

Gordon, the quiet forward, finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and came up big late with a dunk on an alley-oop pass and then fed Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for a dunk less than a minute later to give the Wildcats (7-0) a 61-51 lead with 3:59 to play.

Parker, who had 19 points for his first game under 20 points this season, struggled against Arizona’s physical defense and was 7 of 21 from the field. He came into the game shooting 60 percent from the field.

East Lansing, Mich. — Keith Appling came off the bench to score 17 points and Denzel Valentine and Travis Trice added 15 apiece to power Michigan State over Mount St. Mary’s and help the Spartans continue their domination of non-conference opponents at home during November.

The last time the Spartans (7-0) lost at home in November was to a David Robinson-led Navy team on Nov. 29, 1986. .

No. 5 Okla. State 69, Butler 67

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — Marcus Smart scored 17 points as Oklahoma State survived a major scare in a win over Butler in an Old Spice Classic semifinal.

Oklahoma State (7-0) again came out flat to start a second half, one day after the Cowboys saw a 23-point halftime lead dwindle to four with 3 minutes to play before beating Purdue 97-87.

No. 7 Ohio St. 99, N. Florida 64

Columbus, Ohio — LaQuinton Ross broke out of a frigid shooting spell by scoring 17 points and Ohio State rode a 19-point first-half run to a victory over North Florida.

Amir Williams and Amedeo Della each hit career highs for the Buckeyes (6-0), with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Aaron Craft added 16 points, making his first 3-pointer of the season, while Lenzelle Smith Jr. had 10.

No. 9 Louisville 69 S. Mississippi 38

Louisville, Ky. — Chris Jones came off the bench to score 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and No. 9 Louisville bounced back from its first loss to roll past Southern Mississippi.

Five days after a lackluster effort in a 93-84 loss to North Carolina, the Cardinals (6-1) got a better effort on both ends with the help of two new starters. Freshman point guard Terry Rozier got things going offensively by making his first three from beyond the arc en route to nine points, while redshirt freshman center Mangok Mathiang had seven rebounds and three blocks.

Joe Jackson added 16 points for Memphis (4-1), which will play No. 5 Oklahoma State in Sunday night’s championship game.

No. 22 Michigan 87 Coppin St. 45

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Playing without leading scorer Nik Stauskas, Michigan found plenty of offensive firepower to rout Coppin State.

Freshman Zak Irvin matched his career-high of 10 points by halftime, when Michigan led 42-23, and brought the Crisler Center crowd to its feet by connecting on three consecutive 3-point baskets for a 63-31 lead with 13:24 left to play.

Peter Jok scored 14 and Melsahn Basabe finished with 10 for the Hawkeyes (7-0), who have already won five times this season by at least 31 points. Iowa will meet either Kansas or Villanova for the tournament title today.

No. 25 Marquette 76, GW 60

Fullerton, Calif. — Davante Gardner scored 20 points and had nine rebounds to lead Marquette to a over George Washington University in the semifinals of the Wooden Legacy.

Marquette (5-2) used a 12-2 run early in the first half to build a double-digit lead, and never trailed.

Women’s Hoop

No. 2 Duke 97, C. Michigan 64

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands — Tricia Liston scored 15 of her 20 points in the first half and added 11 rebounds to lead Duke over Central Michigan at the Paradise Jam on Friday.

No. 8 Maryland 100 Texas Southern 59

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico — Alyssa Thomas had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Maryland to a rout of Texas Southern in the San Juan Shootout.

Arizona St. 94 No. 11 UNC 81 (ot)

Cancun, Mexico — Adrianne Thomas scored 23 points and Arizona State outscored North Carolina 17-4 in overtime to pull off the upset.

Texas 69, No. 12 Texas A&M 58

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands — Nneka Enemkpali had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Texas over No. 12 Texas A&M at the Paradise Jam.

No. 13 Penn State 61 Oregon State 56

Freeport, Bahamas — Tori Waldner and Dara Taylor scored the first six points of the second half in a 90-second burst and Penn State surged to a victory over Oregon State en in the Junkanoo Jam.

No. 15 LSU 69, Rutgers 65

New York — Freshman Raigyne Moncrief scored a season-high 27 points and Theresa Plaisance added 16 as LSU held off Rutgers in the Women’s Invitational at Barclays Center.